Tufeld's voice career began in radio. He was the announcer on ABC'sThe Amazing Mr. Malone in early 1950 (before the show moved to New York and NBC); then on Alan Reed's Falstaff's Fables, a five-minute ABC radio program that began in the fall of 1950. From October 25, 1952 to March 19, 1955, Tufeld was the announcer for the entire run of ABC Radio's Space Patrol.

Tufeld moved to television in 1955,[2] working in ABC daytime programming and anchoring The Three Star Final, a 15-minute newscast on KABC-TV, Los Angeles. It debuted on October 3, 1955 at noon (replacing Wrangler Jim), then moved to 11 p.m. on April 2, 1956.